Skill-set,success outcome,and mania as determinants of the illusion of control

The illusion of control, the tendency for individuals to approach chance tasks with skill-appropriate strategies, was studied. Subjects premeasured on a mania scale were classified as either high (HM) or low (LM) in mania. In the first phase of the study, HM and LM subjects performed 30 trials on either a skill (verbal associates) or chance (coin-toss) task and were given either 20, 50, or 80% success feedback. After Task 1 was completed, subjects filled out an attribution questionnaire. In the final phase of the study, subjects anticipated 30 more trials either on a skill or chance task. Subjects' predicted successes were measured. It was hypothesized that predicted successes on anticipated skill and chance tasks would be affected more by outcomes on a previous skill task than by outcomes on a previous chance task. The results for the anticipated skill task directly supported the hypothesis. On the anticipated chance task, the hypothesis was confirmed for HM subjects only. The results are discussed in terms of how previous skill experiences may induce a set to control ungovernable situations for individuals with manic reactions.     

The Mexican American in Higher Education: Implications for Educators

From a review of literature and an examination of data from the Counseling Services at the University of Texas - El Paso, the authors conclude that Mexican-American students place more emphasis on cooperation and group achievement than on individual achievement, and that the education of Mexican Americans may be enhanced when teachers properly reinforce “successful behavior.” In addition, it seems that problems may arise in using U.S.-based theories of “democratic” leadership styles because the Mexican-American culture places more emphasis on traditional leadership roles.     

A critique and extension of Bronfenbrenner's Moral Dilemma Test

Critical reading of Bronfenbrenner's Moral Dilemmas Test (MDT) suggests that it measures two basic kinds of moral dimensions: (1) “Negative-passive” moral choices which require the child to resist peer pressure to violate conventional norms in situations fraught with potential adult sanctions, and (2) “Positive-active” moral choices which require performance of an act that affirms a moral principle and implies a benefit for recipients of the act. To test the validity of these distinctions, additional positive-active type dilemmas were constructed to balance the overemphasis on negative-passive situations found in the original MDT. This expanded MDT was then administered to samples of Mormon, Catholic and public school children. Responses from all samples were subjected to factor and cluster analyses and then to a “multitrait-multimethod matrix”. These analyses provide support for the need for making moral sub-distinctions by producing item clusters that are consistently based on the a priori defined negative-passive and positive-active dimensions. A third dimension is also discernable among certain of the original MDT items, but it represents an achievement orientation of only-secondary moral significance. Implications of these conceptual distinctions for linking different kinds of moral responses to different kinds of social contexts are discussed.     

Explorations using computer simulation to comprehend thematic apperceptive measurement of motivation

The new theory of motivation by Atkinson and Birch (1970), based on conceptual analysis of a change in activity, has been programmed to allow computer simulation of effects of differences in motivation on the stream of operant behavior. Simulation of conditions that exist when people who differ in strength of achievement motive write imaginative stories in response to a sequence of pictures shows that construct validity does not require internal consistency as traditionally supposed. The theoretically deduced differences in total time spent imagining achieving (instead of something else) can postdict input differences in motive strength (i.e., construct validity) even when there is little or no internal consistency reliability as indicated by Cronbach's (1951) alpha computed from theoretically deduced time spent imagining achievement in response to particular pictures. This general point has already been amply documented in 25 years of productive empirical research using TATn Achievement. Now a definitive theoretical refutation of the repeated psychometric criticism of the method is provided. Those who have been moved to dispel fantasies about fantasy-based measures of achievement motivation (Entwistle, 1972) are invited, instead, to examine the shallow theoretical foudation of our traditional myths of measurement.This paper elaborates a report presented August 30, 1975, at the 83rd annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. The authors gratefully acknowledge early assistance by Mary M. Moffett, and financial support by a Rackham Faculty Research Grant (JWA), a National Science Foundation Fellowship (KB), and a Michigan Student Medical Research Grant (LHP). Intricate detail has been avoided in describing the several simulations for the sake of clarity in this overview of exploratory work.     

Sequential search processes in long-term memory

In an experiment employing the symbol-element recognition task (Mohs, Wescourt, & Atkinson, 1975), subjects first learned six lists consisting of four words (elements) each. Each list was associated with a unique consonant (symbol). Subsequently, on each of a series of test trials, subjects were presented with one, two, or four symbol-element pairs. A positive response was required if all test words were correctly paired with their associated consonants and a negative response if any one test word was incorrectly paired with a consonant. Of primary concern was the way reaction time (RT) varied with number of pairs presented, the type of response required, and, on negative trials, the position of the mismatched pair in the test display. RT increased with the number of pairs presented on a trial and the increase was greater for positive than for negative trials. For negative pair trials, RT increased with the distance of the mismatched pair from the top of the test display. On negative trials in which the top pair in the test display was the mismatched pair, RT increased with the total number of pairs presented on the trial. A serial, probabilistic order of processing model is proposed to account for these results, and applications of the model to other paradigms are discussed.     

“Doing Good” versus “Being Good”: The interplay between pride appeals and regulatory-focused messages in green advertising

Many consumers feel proud of making green choices, which is of crucial relevance to explaining environmentally responsible behaviors. However, compared to other self-conscious emotions, such as guilt and shame, little research attention has been paid to the role of pride in green consumerism. Through conducting two online experimental surveys, this research examined what features of a message induce the two facets of the emotion pride—authentic and hubristic—and how pride appeals interact with message frames having different regulatory foci. In Study 1, participants revealed more favorable eco-friendly attitudes and intentions when hubristic pride appeals were combined with promotion-focused messages (detailing the positive benefits of using the green product), and when authentic pride appeals were matched with prevention-focused messages (emphasizing the negative consequences averted by using the green product). Study 2 replicated and supported the proposed matching hypotheses while including a control condition. Findings of this research will add to a growing body of literature on pride as a discrete emotion and its carryover effects on persuasion while providing guidelines to help practitioners design green advertising campaigns.